Is the return of Bake Off leaving you with a craving for a delicious, mouth-watering Victoria Sponge cake? Although its super easy to pick up a sweet treat from our onsite bakery, the Bake Off inspires many of us to “have a go”! The Victoria Sponge cake is a true classic. Whether its for a midweek treat; afternoon tea or a celebration, the whole nation loves a scrummy cake! Two light and fluffy sponge cakes, layered with fresh whipped cream and lashings of strawberry jam, finished with a generous dusting of icing sugar. Wherever the cake goes, people follow; it...

We were delighted to help make over the community allotments on Baccabox Lane with some of our team volunteering their time to make improvements to the existing gardens. The allotments will be enjoyed by local community groups including Wythall’s dementia support group. We owe thanks also to Chandler Stone, another local business who got involved too. We love to support local community projects. Please check out the Becketts Community Fund for our token scheme and quarterly grant.

Us Brits love a BBQ and when the sun shines the first thing, we do is clamber to the back of the shed to pull out the BBQ. Next up, we message a few friends and family with a last-minute invite, write a quick ingredients list and head off to the supermarket for some delicious food and drink. Sound familiar? We believe when it comes to a good BBQ there is only one place for your ingredients and that’s our Farm Shop. From homemade beef burgers and marinated chicken kebabs to thick pork sausages and flavoursome ribs, our Butchery counter...

Spontaneity is perfect when it comes to picnics. Those last-minute ‘sun is shining’, ‘at a loose end’ plans with friends and family are the best. But, if you are anything like me, you end up staring at a mostly bare fridge wondering what you can gather together for the picnic box. Without time to plan properly, the contents look similar to the weekday pack-ups. A few cheese sarnies, multipack crisps, apples for good measure and a few chocolate biscuits to share around. It leaves me feeling uninspired. I always end up dreaming of what I could have had if I’d...

Many people are familiar with pairing wine with food, if not to an expert level then at least to understand some basics. Crisp whites with chicken or fish and bold red with rich roast beef for a start. However, perhaps you’ve never considered the world of beer pairing! For expert brewers and beer connoisseurs, beer pairing makes sense. Balancing different varieties of bitter hops and sweet malt in beer production, along with various brewing methods leads to a wide array of beer tastes and mouthfeels. Even more interestingly, beers can taste entirely different depending on the mineral content of the...

We are here to share some really fantastic news from Lisa Maidment, who runs on-site partner business, Transforming U. Lisa has been a true lockdown hero. At the beginning of the first lockdown, she formed a community group that now has charity status – Crafting for Communities. The charity creates handmade items for the community. She started off by making washable uniform bags and mask-friendly headbands and now the items which the charity make now go well beyond covid-related crafting. Volunteers also make wonderful sensory items and ‘worry monsters’ for children’s hospices, dignity capes for breast-screening services and blankets and...

Our thanks to Hollie Coyne, Director at our newest onsite partner, Gina Lou Bridal for this guest blog. We hope you enjoy it!  ~~~ Planning a wedding can be stressful! Add to that the pressure to find the wedding dress of your dreams, it can leave you overwhelmed – we get it! We know exactly how you are feeling and are here to share our expert tips for finding the perfect wedding dress. With our tips you will be able to stress less, smile more and work on the rest of your wedding to-do list! Set a budget We wish...

Perhaps you might not think much of it when you drop your small change into a charity collection box on the counter at our tills. But we chatted with Stephen Pugh who runs local charity, Tracey’s Dream who told us how much of a difference this really makes. Stephen set up Tracey’s Dream in memory of his late wife, who sadly passed away from cancer after a courageous battle. He has had one of their collection tins in our Farm Shop for some time now and says that the money raised is invaluable. The charity initially funded a caravan at...

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The countdown has begun until we can finally re-open the doors to our Restaurant once again. 60 days and counting! 😊 Here are some key dates to look forward to – 12th April, Outdoor Eating – Enjoy a Becketts breakfast or lunchtime treat ‘al fresco’ on our outside benches from our Restaurant takeaway menu. Grab a friend or two and catch up over brekkie or coffee and cake! 17th May, Inside Dining – Hurrah! At last, we can re-open the doors to our Restaurant and welcome you back to dine inside with...

Mother’s Day falls on Sunday 14th March which means it’s right around the corner. This year more than ever it feels more important to show the motherly figure closest to you how much they are appreciated! So, let us make this Mother’s Day one to shout about! We cannot treat our special Mums to a meal out this year so let us bring quality food from our Restaurant and unique gifts from our Farm Shop to them at home instead. Family Sunday Roast Mother’s Day in our Restaurant is one of our busiest days of the year. We really will...

We love Fruit and Veg!! So we have put together 9 fun facts about fruit and veg to share with you as we head into the last week of home school for this half term! See how many off these facts you already know! 1.Tomatoes are a fruit. And they are the most popular fruit in the whole world! 2.Strawberries are technically not a berry. Weird but true! Berries by definition have their seeds on the inside, whilst strawberries hold their 200 seeds on the outside. 3.A pomegranate can hold up to 1000 seeds! Whilst they are larger than a...

January can be a tough month to get motivated at the best of times, however with the continued National Lockdown due to Covid 19, it has been an even tougher start to 2021 for many. This has got us thinking into how people have been keeping themselves occupied during their time at home in the 3rd lockdown and staying motivated daily! It may be giving yourself little tasks to complete each day or getting your daily exercise. You may even have a big project that you have wanted to do for a long time, but never had the time to...